Happy New Year to all. We are looking for a god hearding dog to work goats. Right now we have 22 grown with lotsa babys coming (7 alredy).I free range graze and its getting to much for me to run them back when the old ones set their head to not come back (even the feed doesnt intrest them. We winter in texas and hav a farm in Stilwell oklahoma where we plan to take the girls in the spring tell fall..to cold for me in the winter LOL. Will be able to pick up any Dog if not to far from a line from Houston to Stilwell Will be making the trip in a few days to bring back our tractor so would appreciate any answers if You may have a good Dog that has natural hearding instincte,doesnt need to be trained as I am retired and will work with it every day. BTW it will be a full time family member as well as a working Dog. Thanks, God Bless and have a Great year with Jesus as your partner in all things.

-- Charles steen (xbeeman412@aol.com), January 01, 2001

Answers

I don't have a dog for you but I do have a recommendation. Growing up on a large cattle ranch in northeast texas we had a border collie. This breed has a natural herding instinct that doesn't require much training to make them into great herding dogs. They are also great family pets. My brother and I used to ride bikes/horses all over the ranch and Henry(the dog) would always go with us to look out for us. We got up cows several times a year and Henry was always a big help. He also didn't seem to aggravate the cows or harrass them in any way when he wasn't working. He lived to be pretty old but got hit one night while in pursuit of female companionship....dang women will get you every time :o). Hands down this was the best dog I have ever been around.

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), January 01, 2001.

I'm with Amamda 100%. Good dogs,as long as you have something for them to do,like herding.They are intellegent & active.My little girl is a mostly border collie pound puppy with good herding instincts.Best dog I have ever had,bar none.Most active, devilish little puppy I ever had,as well.Hubbie called her the Tasmanian Devil.

Now, where are you getting good info on training herders? I want to train mine when we decide on what stock we'll have.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), January 01, 2001.

For a small farm, where you don't have a full day's work for the dog to do, I recommend considering the working farm collies. Besides getting a good working dog, you will be helping save an old breed from extinction. Here are a couple of url's to look at:

http://www.geocities.com/farmcollie1/index.html

http://izebug.syr.edu/~gsbisco/collie.htm

Hope you find what you are looking for (our puppy is only four months old, already showing some herding instinct, and a sweet little guy).

-- Kathleen Sanderson in NH (stonycft@worldpath.net), January 01, 2001.

We have an Australian Shepherd that does wonders with the sheep and goats. The big thing to worry about with goats is that they can kill a dog. We leave our goats with the sheep because of coyotes. We can't leave any dogs with the sheep because the goats will butt them and could hurt them. You can use a dog with goats, but only if you are there with them - our goats behave themselves when we are there, but have caught them going after the dogs if they think we aren't watching.

-- beckie (sunshine_horses@yahoo.com), January 01, 2001.

You'll probably get as many answers as folks who post!! I love to watch the guy down the road. He has 2 Great Pyrenees. When he wants the goats in, he stands on his front porch, gives a certain whistle, and the dogs bring in all the goats. It's a pretty big herd.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), January 02, 2001.

Try a catahoula. Most of 'em have natural herding instincts but they don't herd in the traditional sense. What they do is run around the animals barking..they do nip but not in the working style of the herding dogs..they nip to make sure the goats respect the dog and bunch up. Takes time and patience to train them to come off stock. Alot of people in Texas like them and they work for me. They can be used to herd cattle, wild hogs, wild cattle, and even tree coons, possums, etc. Very protective of property but will come off when called.

www.catahoulas.org/ www.catahoulaleopard.com/ www.baydog.com/ (hunting feral hogs)

Hope those links helped you!

Ted

-- Ted Hart (tedhart71@hotmail.com), January 05, 2001.

We live in the city and have a healty, 16 mo old, male, border collie / austrailian shepherd mix. It is not working out because he is a farm / hearding dog and not a city dog. We are looking for a new home for him. I think he would need some training for hearding, but he already knows the basics like sit, down, stay, etc.. He is very smart so I think he would catch on quickly. If you want more info please write back. Thanks

-- Tures (tures@characterlink.net), September 01, 2001.